Hi Mike and all -
You bring up a good point. I know, from working with equipment companies
for many years, that used equpment bought on the open market is a double-edged
sword. On the one hand, it costs them money to support it when they didn't
sell it a second (or third, fourth, etc) time but, on the other hand, if the
machine turns out to be a clunker due to mis-use of a previous owner, it
hurts their reputation. I've seen this happen quite a bit.
There are some very good used equipment firms out there that will support
the product fully and include manuals (or copies). They also have arrangements
with the OEM regarding parts and software. This should be confirmed before
buying from a used equipment firm. Because, nn the other hand, there are
some proverbial used car salesman selling machines.
I recommend that, if you are looking at the possibility of buying a used
machine, for economical reasons, check with the equipment manufacturer first.
All the major printer, pick and place, reflow and wave manufacturers take in
older equipment on trade and refurb them. These machines will come with the
best warranties, upgrades and software possible and prices may surprise you.
It is rare that you ever see a used Mydata machine on the open market - they
make a conscious effort to buy them back for refurb and re-sell. In the case
of DEK, access to their wonderful knowledge base (subscription) is a
valuable reason to try them first.
Among the used equipment companies, there are some very good ones, as I
mentioned. You should be able to get the serial number of the machine you are
considering buying. If they won't give it to you, they are merely brokers and
don't have possession of the machine, let alone upgrading, etc.
Regards and Caveat Emptor!
Phil Zarrow
ITM Consulting
Durham, NH USA
_www.ITMconsulting.org_ (http://www.ITMconsulting.org)
---------------------------------------------------
Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-----------------------------------------------------
|
